Artist of the Week

Artist: Sarah KeirleArtform: Composer, Artist and Performer

What do you do and what are your main focuses?I’m an electroacoustic composer, violist, singer and artist– basically someone who enjoy playing with sound and colour! My focus has been on acousmatic music, but I’m starting to explore the joys of interactive music, be it with game engines or instruments. The multimedia nature of game engines certainly allows for more crossover with my love for visual art. As a performer I love improvising and collaborating with others – a welcome contrast to the solitary nature of composing! Whatever the medium, I like exploring the emotions, colours and sensations evoked by particular moments in place and time. A lot of my important and inspiring moments happen on long walks.

Where have you studied?I’m currently studying a part-time Masters in Electroacoustic Composition and Interactive Media at the University of Manchester, where I completed my undergraduate degree in Music last year. I also took a course in Sound for Film, Games and TV at SSR this year, and there was a lot of interesting practical and creative crossovers between my courses in composition and post-production.

​Please tell us a bit about your piece 'Lescun'Lescun was inspired by a moment I had while on a long walk (no surprises there). The piece is named after a place in the Pyrenees called the ‘Cirque du Lescun’ - it’s this enormous ridge of grey limestone mountains that looms over a stunningly beautiful valley. It wasn’t just the sights that struck me – the valley, and indeed most places we walked in the Pyrenees, echoed with the the sounds of cattle bells. They were so gentle and omnipresent that you forget that they aren’t part of the natural soundscape.

My family and I were hiking there in the summer of 2016 and halfway up the mountain I looked up at the threatening peaks and then down at the soft fields and foliage around me and I thought, this is a moment that deserves to be rendered and preserved. My father, a keen photographer, achieved this with his camera, but I did it with sound, using recordings of cattle bells and also some field recordings (alas, not from the Cirque du Lescun as I forgot to bring my microphone, but from the slightly closer and more accessible Mam Tor in the Peak District). You can listen to my final piece here: https://soundcloud.com/user-248833822/lescun

Why do you compose?I compose because I love creating. I gave up on my idea of doing a maths degree for sheer love of music and that hasn’t diminished over the last four years of university study. I love sharing parts of myself and my life through my pieces and my paintings, and I especially love it when other people find something they can connect to in my work – it makes all the hard work worth it.

Who are you influenced by?All my life my creating has been influenced by my brother James, who is himself an instrumental composer. We’ve been performing, improvising, jamming and creating together for years and often the early stages of our individual works are collaborative. (Thanks James!)More recently, I’ve been inspired by Taylor Deupree and the gentle and evocative way his sounds unfold. You should check out his album ‘Shoals’:https://12kmusic.bandcamp.com/album/shoals​What are your future ambitions?Generally, my ambition is to continue to enjoy working within the world of sound. I have a particular interest in game audio (the combination of two things I love; video games and sound) but I’d also like to work in post-production, or composition, or contemporary performance. I basically just want to spend my time doing something I find fun, creative and rewarding.

What is the most interesting thing you have done to date?If by interesting you mean bizarre, it would have to be this painting I did while I had a burning fever (pictured above/opposite). It’s basically a visual representation of the strange state my brain was in at the time…

What advice would you give to someone wanting to be an electro-acoustic composer?The most important parts of the creative process don’t happen in the studio, or even in front of a microphone. If you’re not totally inspired and enamoured with the subject matter, it’s unlikely anyone will be inspired or enamoured with the final product. So, find something you love (ie. long walks) and get creating.

​​Anything interesting coming up soon?In June, I’m joining some fantastic musicians and artists at Porthmeor Studios in St. Ives, Cornwall, for a project called time-trace-place. It’s a two-week performative installation that involves improvisation, exploration and visual and sonic art – and it’s right by the ocean! (My favourite place to be.) It’s an exciting opportunity to bring together all my creative interests into one project.​Check it out here: https://time-trace-place.weebly.com/time-trace-place.html